Music Review: Love Ghost

Love Ghost, an L.A based rock band, take metaphorical refuge in a twisted dark fantasy that is streamlined, expansive, and melodically eerie. Something almost taken straight out from a hollywood horror film, they tell of an unglamorous story, examining bizarre scenes that go down when no one is watching. The band unites under rock’s dark side through conventional doom and sinister lyrics to give listeners a glimpse into the heart and mind of someone who harbors warped raw emotions. “Dead Brother” suggests pain without placing you at the center of it, unfortunately someone else has to be the victim. The song becomes a place where dark subjects—death and loss, emotional devastation and existence are amplified like sunlight through a magnifying glass.

The mood is immediately identifiable over the three-minute plus doom crusher, which is driven by dueling licks, a galloping tempo, and chilling-whispered vocals. The torturous shrieks ripple through the immersive guitar tones, all building up with skyward patience. You don’t put this record on casually. The slow, dramatic opening sounds inviting, blooming to guitars that lend a mournful touch to their typically explosive melodies. But nothing prepares you for the singer’s lines which are steeped in freakish and blood-curdling thoughts.

The band consists of Finnegan Bell (guitar and lead vocals), Ryan Stevens (bass and background vocals), Samson Young (drums and background vocals), Nicky Renard (guitar) and Cory Batchler (keyboards). The frontman doesn’t mind putting an ever-increasing premium on his swelling croons, amping things up to vocal-shredding outbursts at select moments, almost like death-metal-inflected refrains. He doesn’t want anything extraordinary with still plenty to roar but he keeps things minimal and direct, allowing for the guitars to also do some part of the yelling. Finnegan Bell proves more than capable of commanding the mic on his own.

As the dark mood rolls by like faraway clouds, Bell’s piercing voice continues to evoke the highest reaches of human pain. His more adept at exposing subtler melancholy but sings this song with such brutality. “Dead Brother” becomes a song that evolves magnificently as the band intertwine visions of death with fantasies of destruction and relief, like a burden lifted of your shoulders. It’s an instant addition to their canon of breathtaking records, walking the tightrope of extreme music and radio-friendly rock. Nonetheless, they sound more interested in risking that fate which only makes their success with this record feel more triumphant.